I recently watched our young children play a tournament at Castle Hill. The experience was mixed from my point-of-view, for a variety of reasons.
On the positive side, I witnessed great behaviour from our parents even when they were faced with some very confronting comments from the opposition coach and families. These comments seem to follow the college, as I’ve witnessed similar at the last few tournaments.
I would like to remind our parents about the do’s and don’ts so that we can help educate other parents and coaches through the way we behave when we are out at tournaments.
DO
- Reward and encourage effort over talent. Your child will develop their own self-awareness of skills they have gained. This will enhance self-confidence and facilitate the transfer of such skills to other areas of life.
- Put your trust in the coaches methods. If the same messages are coming from both the parent and the coach then there is less risk of the child becoming confused, which means they will be able to focus more on working towards set goals.
- Provide emotional and tangible support. This may seem obvious, but reassuring your child that you are there when they need you, will show your support. (This does not mean purchasing chips, soft drink and chocolate after a game..!)
DON’T
- Become over involved. Although this may be your way of showing you care, be wary that there is a fine line between supporting your child and over involvement.
- Provide inappropriate coaching advice. This may give conflicting messages to those received from the coach. If you disagree with the coach, it is better to talk it through and have a quiet discussion with them at another time, rather than potentially coming across as disrespectful.
- Put too much pressure on and emphasise the importance of winning and success. No matter what standard of competition your child is at, they should always be enjoying their sport. Additional pressure can take away this enjoyment and be detrimental to their performance.
Cheers,
Coach Daegs
So ture
Good on you, what great advice very proud to have two of my grandsons attend such a great college with people who look after their well being , thank you so much